Bangalore, Mar 15: Despite being assured of a quarterfinal berth, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting is in no mood to over-experiment when his side will take on Canda in a group A match of World Cup, here tomorrow.
"Depends upon how the game's going," Ponting said when asked if he would like to experiment with his spinners.
"I think the guys got the chance to perform different roles the other night. Looking back at the game, I think it's really important for us to put in place the process what we think is going to be best for us to play and win big games.
He also ruled out a surprise tomorrow.
"I would not like to think so. We have an experienced team are skilful enough to win it convincingly,” he said.
"I think we have to give the guys the exposure, every opportunity in different situations in a game. That's what we did the other night but from now on we can't afford experimenting too much. We will be playing that brand of cricket which will hold up in big games," he said.
Ponting felt the key to Australia's succes in the last three World Cups was that they have been able to build their way through the tournament, and play their best cricket around the time when the semi-finals and finals took place.
"We want to win every game. We would like to continue improving upon each performance, as we go through the tournament. And by the time, the semi-finals and final generally come up, we would be playing our best cricket."
"First of all, we just try and prepare the best way we can. We had plenty of time to do that in the last couple of weeks. We have got Canada coming up tomorrow, then a big game against Pakistan, before the quartefinals and semifinals. To tell you the truth, we have never looked that far ahead."
Asked about the conditions halfway through the tournament, Ponting said it has been a "contrast" in the three host countries.
"The conditions have been fairly contrasting in the countries we have played so far. We started here on a couple of difficult wickets in the practice games.
"There is no doubt that in the game we played in Colombo, the wicket was going to be difficult for the team batting second. The other games we have had, the conditions have been quite fair," Ponting added.
"This is the venue (Chinnaswamy Stadium) where there has been high-scoring games. So the wicket has held up the best here if you look around the three countries so far," Ponting assessed.
As far as his general assessment goes, Ponting feels that they have encountered standard sub-continent wickets so far.
"I would say that we have played on pretty standard sub-continental wickets and conditions so far. On some wickets, the dew has made it easy for the team batting second. Otherwise it tends to become slower as the game progresses."
The tournament is yet to see the best of Ponting, but the batsman is eager to get back to his scoring ways.
"I would have liked to score a few more runs in the first game against Zimbabwe. Then I had faced a few balls and got run out. The other night also it was the same. Getting 30 or 40 is not what you are after. You are out there to make big scores," he stated.
The Australian skipper also stressed on the big gaps between matches as a reason for some of the batsmen taking time to regain touch.
"Since we haven't played so many games in the past few days, we are a bit out of touch. Hopefully, I get some quality time out there in the middle tomorrow and make a decent score.
"Otherwise, I felt I had a pretty good tournament. I started well with a couple of fifties in the practice games. We are just trying to build up things for the bigger games."
When a question was asked as to why Shaun Tait gets different treatment (he bowls in very short spells) compared to others, the skipper's attributed it to speedster's wicket-taking abilities.
"We probably do treat him a bit differently from others because he is an out-and-out wicket-taking bowler. He can bowl the unplayable ball quite a few times during his ten-over spell. We just give him the licence to bowl fast and try to take wickets."
Ponting supplemented his claim with the example of Tait's performance during the last World Cup.
"He had great success in the last World Cup and I think he was one of the highest wicket-takers last time around. The best illustration he has shown as a bowler was in the New Zealand game. By the second over he had conceded 20 and three or four overs later he had 4-30. So that's the sort of impact he can have on the game."
"We have Brett Lee and then, Mitchell Johnson coming in as first change. They are all strike bowlers."
He further added, "Brett has been very consistent with the way he has performed. His line and length as well as pace has been very good. He was able to pick up early wickets for us as well. Mitch (Johnson)has also made a great impact in the first two games. Theattack certainly has complemented each other very well," the skipper summed up the attack. PTI
